Math Galaxy 5th Grade Math

As you can see from its title, this is an app initially designed for the American market. It is aimed at grade 5 children following the USA Common Core curriculum. This makes it broadly equivalent to year 6 in the English school system or Primary 6/7 in the Scottish. The content that is offered in this app is targeted well at this age range, in terms of complexity, but you will find some comparative gaps and some extras between the different curriculums. This shouldn’t be a reason to discount this app as the overlap is substantial with the key elements all covered.

Related: 5th Grade Learning Apps

There is a good amount of learning material within the app.  Each section has a review part where an onscreen example and explanation is given step by step. An excellent option within the questions, and one that would be nice to see in more apps, is whether the answer is to be given step by step or just the final answer.  Less confident students will really benefit from this as they can break their thinking down into stages that are matched by the app.  As they become more proficient at this, they will be able to progress to just giving a final answer. 

Each of the questions is answered by typing in a response; either a calculated number, or where there is a multiple choice, the number corresponding to the correct option displayed.  Answers are given by entering them on a built in keyboard. This is often a much better choice than using the tablet’s own keyboard as it restricts the inputs to only valid ones, and it can avoid the confusion that occurs when the screen becomes obscured by the revealed built in keyboard.  Children are supported in reaching their answers by useful diagrams and other visualisation aids.

As well as the more typical maths topics there are also two maths based games.  One based on money, using dollars and cents, the other based around fractions and decimals.  They are both quite basic in terms of interaction and their looks, but offer a diversion from answering questions in a traditional way.  There is also a more general game, although one that requires some thinking, to provide a diversion from studying.  The reward for completing the math questions elsewhere in the app is lives to use in this game.

Related: Math Apps for Kids

The app does not store scores but when a child chooses to end an exercise they are given their data along with the option to email it.  If teachers have set up a suitable email account, this is a good way of keeping track of a class’ progress in a number of different topics. Children will also enjoy surprising their parents with their achievements. 

The presentation of this app is a bit less polished than you might be used to and could stand a little improvement. The panel where instructions are given is a little small, meaning that text cannot be spaced as well as would be ideal. A blank line between the short paragraphs shown here would help readability as it would in other areas.

As an app with a purchase price that includes all of its content and does not require any subscription or in app purchase over time, this app is worth considering for revision and checking on educational progress.